Indicator.



G. F. McLAUGHLIN.

INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3!. 19KB.

Patanted Nov. 27, 1917.

l wwp m (s. F. McLAUGHLlN.

INDICATOR.

APPLICATION F LED JAN. 31' 1916- n 1 4 11 Pat/alum Nov. 21, 191?.

9 v 4 SHEETSSHEET Z- a. III/I WITNESSES:

e. F. McLAUGHLIN.

' INDICATOR.

f m m m APPLICATION FILED mmal. I916.

v i" 1 0 Patented Nov. 27, 1917.

4 $HEETSSHEET 4.

INVENTOR Awrommms WITNESSES:

UNTTE SATES PATENT FFQU.

GEORGE F. MGLAUGHLIN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

INDICATOR.

Application filed January 31, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon F. MCLAUGH- LIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and'county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a street or station indicator particularly adapted for use on passenger vehicles to inform the passengers as to the name of the next succeeding street or station at which the vehicle will stop.

The invention is especially adapted for use on street cars and is of a form particularly designed to be secured in position transversely of the car, adjacent to the ceiling thereof whereby the information imparted by the indicator may be readily seen by persons at either end.

The indicator is provided with a belt upon which the names of the streets or stations are successively printed and the information relates particularly to means for supporting the belt, means for moving the belt a predetermined distance and means for manually starting the movement of the belt and automatically stopping it and means for automatically reversing the movement of the belt when either end is reached.

Further objects will hereinafter appear.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction and combination of parts as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the indicator partly broken away.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one side of the indicator.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the opposite side.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the gear shifting lever.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5, Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the several electric circuits and the connected operating mechanisms, the web being turned end for end with relation to the train of gears to show the relation of the several contacts with the web.

Referring to the drawings in detail, A indicates a suitable form of base plate provided for the purpose of supporting a pair of end frames 2 and. 3 inclosing hous- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 27, 121%.

Serial N 0. 75,307.

ing 4. The upper face of the housing is provided with one or more display openings 5 for the purpose of exposing a portion of a belt 6 which is in this instance supported by a pair of rollers 7 and 8 journaled in the opposite ends of the frames 2 and 3. This belt has printed on its face the names of streets and stations and is adapted to be intermittently moved beneath the display opening to bring the successive street names into register with same to indicate the name of the next street stop or station. This is accomplished by winding the belt on one roller and simultaneously unwinding it from the opposite. Means must therefore necessarily be provided for driving either roller or releasing same. This is accomplished as follows:

Supported upon a base plate A is an electric motor B from which power is transmitted to a drive shaft 9 by means of the friction drive 10; and pivotally mounted on the drive shaft near one end is a gear shifting lever 11 which carries a pair of connected gears 12and 13. The gear 13 is larger in diameter than the gear 12 and is adapted to constantly intermesh with a driving pinion 14 secured upon the drive shaft 9. Gears 12, 13 and 14 are thus constantly driven by the motor at a reduced speed de pending upon the ratio of the friction transmission indicated at 10. Each roller 7 and S is carried by a shaft 7 and 8 and secured on the outer end of the shaft 8 is a spur gear 15 which constantly intermeshes with the smaller of a pair of connected gears 16 and 17 journaled as at 18 upon the frame 3. Secured upon the outer end of shaft 7 a is a spur gear 19 which intermeshes with a pinion 20 and journaled upon the frame 3 at 21 is a pair of connected gears 22 and 23, the smaller of which constantly intermeshes with the pinion 20.

As previously described, the power is constantly transmitted from the motor through the friction drive 10 and the shaft 9 to the intermeshing gears 12, 13 and 14. These, as previously described, are carried on the upper end of the gear shifting lever 11 and movement of this lever in one direction or another causes the gear 12 to intermesh either with gear 17 or the gear 23. Power may thus be transmitted from the motor to drive the roller 8 or the opposite roller 7, as the case may be. The movement of the gear shifting lever is accomplished in the following manner: Secured on the lower end of the lever 11 is an outwardly extending armature plate 24 and supported by the base plate in alinement with the armature 24 is a pair of electro-magnets 25 and 26, one on each side of the armature. Mounted in alinement with the magnets and extending across the armature plate is a latch arm 27. One end of said arm is pivotally supported as at 28 upon the frame 3. The other end is supported by a pair of spring contact members 29. Formed in the latch arm in alinement with the armature plate 24 is a pair of hook-shaped recesses 30 and 31 and formed on the armature plate near its inner end, and in alinement with the latch arm, is a lock 32 which is adapted to be engaged by either recess 30 or 31. Secured to the frame 3 in alinement with the latch arm in a vertical position above same, is a third electro-magnet 34 which is provided for the purpose of raising the latch arm out of engagement with the armature plate as will hereinafter be described. The operation of the indicator or the movement of the belt is controlled by a plurality of automatically actuated switches and a plurality of manually controlled switches, the circuits through which may be seen by referring to Fig. 6.

Assumin the belt to be traveling in the direction of arrow a, to bring the next street name into register with the display openings 5 in the casing, it will be necessary to stop the movement of the belt the moment said register is secured. This is automatically accomplished in the present instance by closing a circuit through the magnet 34. The circuit through this magnet can be traced as follows: 36 shows a battery connected with a plurality of contact members 37, 38 and 39, by means of wires 37 40 and 41 and a roller 42. The center contact member 38 will hereinafter be known as the automatic stop, the contact member 37 as the automatic reverse controller of roller 8 and a contact member 39 as the automatic reverse controller of the roller 7. Formed on, or secured to, one edge of the belt 6 is a perforated reinforced edging strap 43 which here serves as a sprocket chain. This chain is provided for the purpose of revolving the roller 42 and this is accordingly provided with a sprocket gear 44 which intermeshes with the perforations and belt 43. Mounted on the outer end of the roller 42 is an arm 45 carrying a contact member 46 which during the revolution of the roller is adapted to close a circuit through the stationary contact member 47 which is connected with the automatic stop member 38 by a wire 48. The current passing from the battery 36 through wire 42' then passes through the roller 42, the arm 45 and the contacts 46 and 47 when these are brought into register during the revolution of the roller. The current then passes through the wire 48 and the wires 40 and 49 which latter wire is connected with the terminal 50. This terminal is connected by a wire 51 with the one terminal of an automatic circuit breaker 29. The other terminal of the circuit breaker is connected by a wire 52 with one sid of magnet 34, the other side being connected by wire 54 to the battery 36. This complete circuit is established every time the contact members 46 and 47 come into register and this takes place at the time when a street name comes into register with the'display opening. in the casing. The energizing of the magnet 34 on the establishment of the circuit causes the latch arm 27 to be lifted to bring either notch 30 or 31 out of register with the lug 32 on the armature plate 24. The armature plate is thus released and the connected gear shifting lever 11 is shifted to assume a normal vertical position where the gears 12 and 13 assume an intermediate position with relation to the adjacent gears.

therefrom when the latch armis raised by means of the magnet 34. With the application of the device on the street car, it is possible to automatically start the movement of the belt by providing a contact arm on the trolley pole which will engage with cooperating contact members placed at suitable points along the track, for instance, a predetermined distance before reaching certain streets or stations. This means is, however, not shown in the present instance but a simpler form of switch mechanism controlled or operated by the conductor is substituted to make the circuits as simple as possible. The switch controlled and operated by the conductor is an ordinary pushbutton switch such as is used in connection with electric bells. This switch is shown at 60 in Figs. 2 and 6 and is provided with the motor to drive the roller 7 to move the next street or station name into position. This is accomplished in the present instance by the conductor pressing the button 61. This immediately establishes a circuit through the magnet 26, causing this to attract the armature plate 2 1 and rocks the gear shifting lever in a direction which will bring gear 12 into mesh with the gear train comprised of gears 22, 23, 20 and 19. Power from the constantly driven motor B is thus transmitted to drive the roller 7 and cause the belt to continue its movement in the direction of arrow a until the next street name is brought into position. The circuit through the. magnet 26 is only momentary and is maintained just sufficiently long to permit the latch arm to drop down and engage the lug 32 on the armature plate. The gear shifting lever is thus positively held in position until it is again released by closing the circuit through the magnet 3a. which is accomplished when the street name has moved into register and when it is desired to stop the movement of the belt. The circuit through the magnet 26 can be traced as follows:

The closing of the manually controlled switch 60 and particularly the button 61 permits the current from batteries 36 to pass through wire 39 and the wire 64 which connects with one terminal of the puslrbutton 61. The other terminal of the button 61 is connected by a wire 65 with a terminal 66. This terminal is in turn connected with one terminal or magnet 26 by wire 67 and the other terminal of magnet 26 is connected through a wire 68 with the return circuit wire 54:. A complete circuit is thus established through the push-button 61 and the magnet 26 and is maintained just sufficiently long to permit the latch arm to drop down and positively secure the armature plate with connected gear shifting lever in the tilted position where power will be transmitted through the connected gears to drive the roller 7. The movement of the belt is, however, automatically stopped as pre viously described, the moment a street name comes into register through the display opening as the switch arm 45 turned by the roller 12 closes the automatic stop circuit through magnet 34: the moment contacts 46 and it? come into register and as this takes place the same time that the street name comes into register, it will be seen that the movement of the belt will be automatically stopped as a circuit closed through magnet 34: causes the latch arm to be raised and permits the gear shifting lever to move back into intermediate position or into the vertical position shown in the several figures, this being caused by the action of the spring arms 55 and 56. The circuit established through the magnet 34 is only momentary and is maintained just suiiiciently long to raise the latch arm to a point where it will release the lug on the armature plate. An automatic circuit breaker has; been provided for the purpose of breaking the circuit through the magnet 34: or in other words, for limiting the time it remains energized. This circuit breaker is shown at 29 and consists of a pair of spring contact members which are normally held together by the weight or" the outer end of the latch arm which is supported thereby. Upward movement of the latch arm when the magnet 34 becomes energized, however, removes the weight from the spring contacts 29 and permits these to separate and as these are in circuit with the magnet 34 it can be seen that the circuit through same is broken, thus permitting the latch arm to drop back to establish the circuit through the contacts 29 and also to permit the latch arm to engage the lug and hold the gear shifting lever in positive engagement with the coir nected driving gears.

For the purpose of preventing the belt from becoming completely unwound with relation to one roller or the other, means have also been provided for the purpose of automatically reversing the movement of the belt the moment one end or the other is reached. This is accomplished by the automatic reversing switches indicated at 37 and 39. See Figs; 1 and 6. Vith the belt traveling in the direction of arrow (6 and when the end of the belt is reached, it will be seen that a pair of perforations 7 0 and 71 have been provided. The automatic switch member 37 is adapted to close a circuit through the magnet 25 and the contact member 38 is adapted to close the circuit through the magnet The magnet 26 during the movement of the belt in a direction opposite to arrow at has been constantly actuated to throw the gears operating the roller 7 into mesh. It is therefore necessary to stop and reverse the movement of the belt when the end is reached, by energizing magnets 25 and 3 1. This is automatically accomplished in the present i11- stance by providing the perforations 7 O and 71 shown. The perforation 70 is in direct alinement with contact member 38 and the perforation 71 is in direct alinement with the contact member 37. These perforations permit the contact members 37 and 38 to en gage the roller 12 and will therefore simultaneously establish a circuit through magnets 25 and 3 1. The magnet 34'. lifts the latch and permits the gear shifting lever to return to normal position and at the same time permits the magnet 25 to attract the armature plate and throw the connected gears into mesh with the gear train which drives the roller 8 and as this revolves in the direction of arrow a, it can be seen that the movement of the belt becomes reversed. The magnet 3% as previously described is only momentarily energized or only sufficiently long to release the armature plate. It then drops into position the moment the circuit through the automatic circuit breaker is opened and positively locks the armature plate as in the opposite position from that previously described as the notch 31 will engage the lug and positively hold the gear shiftin lever in the position where the gear 12 will intermesh with the connected train comprising gears 17, 16 and 15 that drives the roller 8.

If the indicator is installed upon the street car it will be understood that the end of the belt will be reached at the time the last station or street is reached; that the belt will be sui'liciently long to carry all the names of streets and stations passed by during the run. The reversing of the belt therefore, takes place at each end of the run and as it is automatically accomplished, there is no danger of the belt becoming torn from the roller nor is any particular attenticn required on the part of the conductor. While the device is here shown and described as mamially started by means of one of the push-buttons or switch (50, it is obvious that an automatic control may be provided as previously described; and while the device as here shown is employed as a street indicator, it is obvious that it may be used for advertising purposes. In that instance a number of advertisements could be printed upon the endless belt and the intermittent movement of the belt will thus bring one advertisement after another into register with the display opening. The perforations and 71 shown at one end of the belt are similarly provided at the opposite end of the belt, the only difference being that the perforation '71 is positioned on the opposite side of the perforation 70 or in alinement with the contact member 39 which closes the circuit through the magnet 26.

The materials and finish of the several parts of the device may be such as the udg ment and experience of the manufacturer may dictate.

I wish it understood that various changes in form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims, and that I do not wish to limit myself to the specific design and construction here shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein, a beltcarried by the rollers and provided with a perforation, a pair of contacts arranged over and beneath the belt and adapted to contact through the perforation, a movably mounted drive for said rollers, means for operatively positioning the drive relative to either roller, other means for holding said drive operatively disposed, and means for rendering said holding means inoperative including an electric circuit connected to the contacts.

2. The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein, a belt carried by the rollers and provided with a perforation, a roller between said first rollers over which the belt passes, a contact arranged over the belt and third roller and adapted to contact with the latter through the perforation, a gear on each roller of said pair, a pivotally mounted gear shifting lever, a driving gear on the lever, and means for rocking the lever to interme'sh the drive gear with either first-named gear, said means including an electric circuit connected on one side to the contact and onthe other side to the third roller.

3. The combination with a casinghaving a pair of rollers journaled therein, a belt carried by the rollers and provided with a perforation, a roller between said first rollers over which the belt passes, a contact ar ranged over the belt and third roller and adapted to contact with the latter through the perforation, a gear on each roller of said pair, a pivotally mounted gear shifting lever, a driving gear on the lever, means for rocking the lever to intermesh the drive gear with either first-named gear, means for locking the lever in rocked position, and electromagnetically operated means for rendering the last means inoperative and including a circuit closable by engagement of the contact with the third roller.

4. The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein of a belt carried bv said rollers, a rocking arm, a driving member carried by said arm, and means for intermittently rocking the arm to bring the driving member into and out of driving engagement with either roller, to drive the belt in either direction a predetermined distance, and electro -magn.etically operated means for locking the rocking arm.

5. The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein, a belt carried by the rollers and provided with a perforation, a roller between said first rollers over which the belt passes, a contact arranged over the belt and third roller and adapted to contact with the latter through the perforation, a gear on each roller of said pair, a pivotally mounted gear shifting lever, a driving gear on the lever, means for rocking the lever to intermesh the drive gear with either first-named gear, locking means for holding the lever in rocked position operable automatically on rocking of said lever, electrically-operated means for rendering the locking means inoperative, a circuit including said electrically-operated means and closable by the contact engaging said third roller through the belt perforation, and a circuit breaker closable by the locking means when the latter is operative.

6. The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein, a belt carried by the rollers and provided with a perforation, a roller between said first rollers over which the belt. passes, a contact arranged over the belt and third roller and adapted to contact with the latter through the perforation, a gear on each roller of said pair, a pivotally mounted gear shifting lever, a driving gear on the lever, means for rocking the lever to intermesh the drive gear with either first-named gear, an electric circuit including the contact and third roller, an electrdmagnet in the circuit energizable upon engagement of the contact with the third roller through the belt perforation, and an armature for the magnet provided with means for engaging the lever to hold the latter in a rocked position.

7 The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein, a belt carried by the rollers and provided with aperforation, a roller between said first rollers over which the belt passes, a contact arranged over the belt and third roller and adapted to contact with the latter through the perforation, a gear on each roller of said pair, a pivotally mounted gear shifting lever, a driving gear on the lever, means for rocking the lever to intermesh the drive gear with either first-named'gear, an electric cir' cuit including the contact and third roller, an eleotro-magnet in the circuit energizable upon engagement of the contact with the third roller through the belt perforation, a pivoted armature plate for the magnet having a pair of recesses in which the lever is adapted to interlock when in its rocked positions, and a circuit breaker operable by the armature plate and closable by the latter .When it is engaged with the lever.

8. In an indicator, a belt, means supporting the same for movement, a roller driven by the belt, a contact arm carried by the roller, a stationary contact adapted to be wiped by the arm, a circuit including the roller, arm and contact, means for driving the belt supporting means, and electrically operated means operable upon closing of the circuit by the engagement of the arm and stationary contact for rendering the drive means inoperative.

9. The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein of a belt carried by said rollers, a gear on each roller, a pivotally mounted gear shifting lever, a driving gear carried by said lever, means for rocking the lever to throw the driving gear into mesh with either roller gear, and electro-magnetically operated means for locking the lever against movement while the gears are in mesh, and means for returning the lever and driving gear to an intermediate position between the roller gears when the belt has traveled a predetermined distance.

10. The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein of a belt carried by said rollers, a gear on each roller, a pivotally mounted gear shifting lever, a driving gear carried by said lever, electromagnetic means for rocking the lever to throw the driving gear into mesh with either roller gear, and electrically operated means for locking the lever against movement While the gears are in mesh, and means, controlled by the belt, for returning the lever and driving gear to an intermediate position between the roller gears when the belt has traveled a predetermined distance.

11. The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein of a belt carried by said rollers, a gear on each roller, a pivotally mounted gear shifting lever, a driving gear mounted on one end of the lever, an armature plate secured on the other end of the lever, a pair of magnets mounted in alinement with the armature plate, means for energizing either magnet to rock the lever into a position where the driving gear will mesh with one of the roller gears, a third magnet, means controlled. by said mag net for locking the gear shifting lever when the gears are in mesh, means for releasing said locking means when the belt has traveled a predetermined distance and means for returning the gear shifting lever, the armature plate and the driving gear to an intermediate position when the gear shift ing lever is released.

12. The combination with a casing having a pair of rollers journaled therein of a belt carried by said rollers, a gear on each roller, a pivotally mounted gear shifting lever, a driving gear mounted on one end. of the lever, an armature plate secured on the other end of the lever, a pair of mag nets mounted in alinement with the armature plate, means for energizing either magnet to rock the lever into a position Where the driving gear will mesh with one of the roller gears, a third magnet, means controlled by said magnet for locking the gear shifting lever when the gears are in mesh, a switch controlled by the movement of the belt adapted to close a circuit energizing the third magnet to release the locking means when the belt has traveled a predetermined distance and means for returning the gear shifting lever to an intermediate position when released.

18. In an indicator, a contact roller carrying a contact arm, a stationary contact engaged by the arm, a belt having perforated end portions, means for driving the belt in reverse directions, means for stopping the driving means including an electric circuit comprising the roller, its arm and the stationary contact and closable by the arm engaging the latter, a pair of drive reversing circuits each including a contact and said roller, the contact of each reversing circuit being positioned to engage the roller through a perforation in a respective end of the belt to eliect a reversal of the 10 belt, and a contact included in said first circuit for engaging the roller through a.

GEORGE F. MoLAUGI-ILIN. r

lVitnesses:

JOHN H. HERRING, W. W. HEALEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the0ommissioner of Iacents, Washington; D. 03 

